Pre-lit trees and type of lights: While deciding whether to buy a pre-lit tree is a personal decision, we suggest that you don’t. Though the quality of string lights has improved in the past several years, you still risk the lights on your tree burning out before you’ve gotten full use of the tree. Furthermore, you usually cannot remove the lights from the tree.
In a design common to modern artificial trees, the Downswept Douglas Fir’s branches are all permanently mounted on hinges on the center pole (older artificial trees required you to attach branches individually via sockets), and like most trees its height, it comes in three sections. As you set the tree up and the branches fold out, you need to fluff them: Just pull the individual tips apart into spreading clusters, adjust the arrangement of branches to close any gaps, and generally prettify the tree. House of Holiday’s Larry Gurino strongly recommends fluffing as you go—do the bottom section first, then put the middle section in place and fluff it, and finally top and fluff. This technique makes the job much easier than trying to fluff the whole thing at once. We followed his advice when setting up our Downswept Douglas Fir for our photo shoot, and we had the whole thing put together and looking great in less than 15 minutes.
A little pricey, but you won’t find a stand that’s easier to use—and that includes when you’re stuck putting the tree up by yourself. Unlike most stands, which require you to screw in three or four long threaded bolts, the Krinner has a simple foot pedal. Pump it up and down and five claws slowly close in on and grip your tree. All you have to do is hold it up straight. The XXL fits trees up to 12 feet tall with trunk diameters up to seven inches. That might be overkill for most families, but you’d much rather have a stand that’s too big than come home to find out that your tree won’t fit. There’s a convenient water level indicator, too.
Bring the beauty and sweet scents of nature to your front door with wreaths crafted of fresh, farm-grown flowers, herbs, fruit branches and more. Rustic and contemporary wreaths welcome visitors to your home and a fragrant live wreath is a great seasonal accent to brighten up the indoors. Each piece is grown and harvested with care by a small family-operated farm in Northern California, who create each one to reflect warmth and individuality.
Of course, wreaths are not just for Christmas, and are a lovely addition to give your house a cheerful and welcoming look at any time of year. Fall foliage makes for striking thanksgiving or autumn wreaths, artificial floral blooms in pastel hues are great for Easter, and fresh green leaves, eucalyptus, or cheerful summer flower wreaths are stunning during any of the warmer months.
We had hands-on time with the Tree Genie XXL Deluxe, which matches our main pick spec for spec with a couple exceptions. First, there is a bell on the end of the foot pedal that dings and locks the pedal automatically when the stand’s claws are fully tightened. Also, the claws on the XXL Deluxe loosen on the tree one pedal lift at at time, instead of releasing all at once. These are nice features, but they’re not necessary, and they add about $10 to the total cost.

Add a traditional touch to your holiday home Add a traditional touch to your holiday home deor this season with our 24 in. Artifical Meadow Fir Christmas Wreath. This wreath features 225 evergreen tips for an elegant natural look. Pre-wired with 35 battery-operated warm white LED lights for a gorgeous glow. A timer is included allowing you to ... More + Product Details Close

That being said, this NTC tree was even easier to set up than the Best Choice Products tree. It was so easy, in fact, that two people could set it up in under 45 minutes. The hinged branches literally fell into place as soon as we snapped the the three sections of the tree together. Then we did some fluffing and it was ready to go! As mentioned, this tree also left our arms a little bit scratched up after the fluffing process.

This tree stand is solid and durable, so it will provide superior support for your tree. Depending on how large your Christmas tree is, you can purchase one of three different sizes. The smallest size weighs four pounds, the medium size weighs five pounds, and the large size weighs nine pounds. You can use this stand inside or outside, but it's important to note that it's made for artificial trees.
^ Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal (National Library of Portugal) - Codices Alcobacenses ([1] Archived 2013-02-21 at the Wayback Machine. ); [BN: cod. alc. CLI / 64, Page. 330] Translated ("Nota de como has de poer o ramo de natal, scilicet: Em vespera de natal, buscarás huu grande Ramo de loureiro verde, e colherás muitas laranjas vermelhas e poer lhas has metidas pelos ramos que dele procedem specificadamente segundo já viste. E em cada hua laranja, poeras hua candea. E pendurarás o dicto Ramo per hua corda na polee que ha de star acerca da lampada do altar moor")
Typical plastic stands won’t hold up to several years of holiday cheer. This Steel Arm Plastic Live Tree Stand is easy to move and pack but built to last. With 2 sizes in one you can be sure to fit any tree size up to 9 feet tall. Impact grade plastic construction makes this stand strong and durable. For a lighter, easy to store stand the steel arm has it all.
Unlike the impostors of the past, the best of today's imitation trees could pass as the real thing. Another big improvement: Most artificial Christmas trees come pre-lit, so you can skip the temper-fraying ritual of distributing lights evenly around the branches and focus on these Christmas tree decorating ideas instead. Whether you're looking for something classic with no-frills tree or a unique eye-catcher, there's an artificial Christmas tree here for you.
“I was VERY impressed by this affordable little tree!! Came in perfect condition, set up in less than two minutes, lights worked perfectly, and it has a very sturdy, dependable base. It breaks down into a box that a short stack of large dinner plates could fit into. All in all, I would consider it my best-valued decoration in my home to date, as far as price goes. It definitely makes a beautiful holiday statement and I’m sure I will be displaying it for YEARS to come! I may add some more LED lights myself for a more profound look at night, though.”

The program's script has been described as "barebones", and was completed in only a few weeks.[13] In the days following the special's sell to Coca-Cola, Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez met with Schulz in his home to expand upon the ideas promised in the pitch. Mendelson noted that on the previous Christmas Day he and his spouse had read Hans Christian Andersen's "The Fir-Tree" to their children.[8] Schulz countered with the idea that there be a tree with the spirit of lead character Charlie Brown.[14] Mendelson suggested they employ a laugh track, a staple of television animation, but Schulz rejected this idea immediately.[14] He felt strongly that the audience should not be informed on when to laugh.[13] They spoke at length about creating an official theme that was neither jazz nor traditional to open the program. Schulz wanted a part of the special to feature the character of Schroeder performing Beethoven, and Mendelson combined this with the inclusion of Guaraldi's "Linus & Lucy" number.[14] Schulz penned the script for A Charlie Brown Christmas, with Melendez plotting out the animation via a storyboard. His storyboard contained six panels for each shot, spanning a combined eighty or-so pages.[14]

If the National Tree and GE are unavailable, the Home Accents Holiday 7.5 ft. Pre-Lit Grand Fir Quick Set Artificial Christmas Tree with Supernova Color Changing Lights is a worthy alternative. It’s not as widely available—Home Accents Holiday is exclusive to Home Depot—but in most parts of the country that still means you can find one easily enough.
By the early 1960s, Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts had become a sensation worldwide.[2] Television producer Lee Mendelson acknowledged the strip's cultural impression and had an idea for a documentary on its success, phoning Schulz to propose the idea. Schulz, an avid baseball fan, recognized Mendelson from his documentary on ballplayer Willie Mays, A Man Named Mays, and invited him to his home in Sebastopol, California, to discuss the project.[3] Their meeting was cordial, with the plan to produce a half-hour documentary set. Mendelson wanted to feature roughly "one or two" minutes of animation, and Schulz suggested animator Bill Melendez, with whom he collaborated some years before on a spot for the Ford Motor Company.[4]
^ Jennifer Eremeeva (15 Dec 2010). "And so, is this Christmas?". Russia Beyond the Headlines. Archived from the original on 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2015-10-03. Russian Christians adhere to the Eastern Orthodox calendar, which lags 13 days behind the modern day calendar. This discrepancy was corrected in 1918, by the fledgling Bolshevik regime, but Christmas never reverted to December 25th in Russia, because the Bolsheviks began a systematic campaign to phase out traditional religious holidays and replace them with Soviet ones. Christmas was shifted to New Year's Eve. At the beginning, stringent measures were put in place to see off any holdover of the old days: Christmas trees, introduced to Russia by Tsar Peter The Great in the 17th Century, were banned in 1916 by the Holy Synod as too German. The Bolsheviks kept the tree ban in place. Stalin declared Ded Moroz "an ally of the priest and kulak," and outlawed him from Russia.
Other sources have offered a connection between the first documented Christmas trees in Alsace around 1600 and pre-Christian traditions. For example, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmas time."[13]